It's Been a Long Time
by ObliviousOwlet
Summary: Callaghan wakes up without his memory in a science facility that seems vaguely familiar. A clearly contemptuous voice mocks him from the speakers in the room, and he's given a sole mission: Survive. But where is he? What's happened? And why does that voice sound familiar? (Portal AU)
1. Prologue: Avenge Us

_**[Hello, everyone! I know I'm also working on my Scorched AU, but I loved the idea of this one as well-I would have forgotten about it by the time I was done with the last one. xP So...**_

 _ **In the summary, I have listed this as a Portal AU. Yes, that's the game Portal. I'm not quite sure if this counts as a crossover-for the following reasons.**_

 _ **For one: It doesn't take place in the same universe. I will flesh this out as I go and explain.**_

 _ **And second, there are no characters from the game, all of the characters are from Big Hero 6-although I have added an OC or two.**_

 _ **Anyways, I shall let you read this. Please let me know if I'm wrong!  
**_

 _ **I hope you enjoy! Please leave me a review to let me know how I did-constructive criticism is welcome. If you have any questions, please either leave the question in a review or, if you wish me to answer it faster, PM me!]**_

* * *

A young man with red-blond hair was sprinting down the metal catwalk, breath coming hard and fast. The woven metal underneath his feet clanked against the railing, gray-white sneakers causing soft thumps as he ran.

He skidded as he turned a corner, crashing into the rigid metal bars, and almost collapsed atop his exhausted legs, gasping for breath.

Suddenly, he sat up straight as behind him, a voice called out.

"You can't escape this-I've already got everyone else. Scientists, geniuses. Even the resident speed demon is slumbering away in her own stasis chamber, what makes you think I won't catch you?"

The pursued party bristled at this and yelled as loud as he possibly could. "What did we do to cause this?! Why are you trying to kill us?!"

"Oh Fred…" The voice grew low, and the aforementioned young man pressed his back to the railing as a figure descended from the ceiling, shoes clanking with the sound of metal upon metal and he hit the ground, drawing closer. Fred stood up straight again and ran for it, trying to pretend he couldn't hear the soft chuckling of his attacker.

As he turned a corner, he could just barely hear the voice of the one chasing him call out.

"I'm not trying to kill you-not yet, anyways."

* * *

No matter where he ran, the voice was always behind him-sometimes closer, sometimes farther. Once, the cold air that escaped his pursuer's throat ghosted across the back of his neck. Fred had almost had a panic attack, forcing himself not to scream as he ran even faster.

"You know, you're just going to get tired. I won't-and I will always find you. You know the facility, but what you fail to understand is that I am the facility."

Deep down, in some dark, secret closet that he hid underneath layers upon layers of cheerfulness, his inner voice told him that the voice was right.

 _I may not be able to escape-but I can make sure everyone else does eventually._

Mentally bringing up a map of the level they were on, Fred turned a corner and made a beeline for the door.

"What are you doing? Don't you dare go in there!"

Ignoring the voice, the young man pushed through the door, locking and barricading it as best as he could before moving to the computer on the side of the room. From the door, he heard a loud crashing from what was doubtless the entity chasing him.

"You can't stay in there, you know... You have no other way out-and I'm coming in."

 _Oh, but I don't intend to get out._ Fred pulled up the profile of the man he thought best equipped to take down their captor. A small smile flitted across his lips before he changed the subject number from 200 to 1-thus placing him next in line for testing.

 _Avenge us. Bring it down._

There was a smashing, and immediately Fred touched the save button, turning off the computer and backing away from the form looming in the doorway.

"There you are. Now, I wish I could tell you that this won't hurt, but…"

A mechanical arm wrapped around his middle, holding him in place as the figure pulled a needle out and stepped forward, the slim piece of metal sinking beneath his skin.

"Well, then I'd be lying."

The last thing Fred saw before he passed out were bright orange-red eyes, flickering with sadistic joy.


	2. Chapter 1: The Awakening

A pair of blue-gray eyes fluttered open, then immediately squeezed shut as the light assaulted them.

An older man struggled to sit up, reaching out to shield his eyes from the bright rays, then rubbed them with a fist.

 _Where… Where am I? Forget that,_ who _am I? Why can't I remember anything?_

There was no answer, so he shakily got to his feet, looking around and taking inventory. There was an empty mug on a small table, along with a clipboard and a radio that he desperately wished to smash. The song blaring from it's speakers was unfamiliar, but dreadfully catchy and already stuck inside his head.

He turned as he heard a whirring sound, which turned out to be the top of his relaxation pod-how did he know what that was called?-going back into place.

"What is this place?"

 **"Hello, Robert."**

The man jumped, taking several stumbling steps until his back was pressed to the glass wall. "What th-"

 **"Welcome to the Scintilla Innovations Computer Aided Technological Enrichment Central Habitat, also known as SICATECH."**

At this point, the man-Robert-had calmed down somewhat, although still taken aback.

 _I know that voice. I don't know how, but I know that voice._

 **"We hope that your brief detention in SICATECH has... been a pleasant one,"** the voice said softly, with a certain reluctance. **"Your specimen has been processed and we are now ready to begin the test proper."**

The voice was warm and deep, with a soft lilt at the end of his words-for the voice was male, and while it was computerized, there was a certain sort of… emotion behind it. Robert searched for any kind of idea as to where he knew that voice, until-

 **"Before we begin, however, please keep in mind that while...ahem... 'fun and learning' are the primary goal of all enrichment central habitat activities, serious injuries may occur."**

 _Wait… What?_

 **"For your own safety and the safety of others, please refrain from-"**

And the voice suddenly cut off, replaced by a horrible static noise. Robert looked up at the gray-tiles ceiling, confusion written on his face, when the voice came back.

 **"Porfavorbordóndefallar. Muchosgraciasdefallargracias."**

 _What?_

"I don't speak Spanish."

 **"Please stand back. The portal will open in three."**

"Portal?! What are you-"

 **"Two."**

Robert took several steps away from the wall he was pressed against, looking around for this portal that would apparently open.

 _Portal?! What the he-_

 **"One."**

Immediately, a bright orange ring appeared on the white section of the wall, an image at its center. Robert stared at it for several seconds before reaching over to touch the wall. To his surprise, his hand went right through-and into the other room. He stood in silence, unsure of what to do, when-

 **"Well? We don't have all day."**

"But what am I supposed to do?"

The voice did not respond, and finally, Robert decided to take the chance and jump.

You can do this. Just…

And he was through.

 **"That must have taken a lot of strategy and intelligence. Who would have thought that the orange portal thing took you somewhere else? Not me. Way to go, genius."**

Robert looked up at the ceiling, searching for the source of the voice and wishing he could give it a good smack upside the head. "Where am I?"

 **"Earth."**

 _Well, that didn't hel_ p.

"Could you be more specific?"

 **"America."**

"Thank you, Captain Obvious."

 **"No problem, Professor."** The voice seemed almost… cheery. Oddly so. To the point of it being extremely irritating.

"So, I was a professor, then?"

 **"Yes. Your full name is Professor Robert Callaghan."**

"Anything else?"

 **"You're fat."**

Callaghan blinked. "I'm… what?"

 **"Also ugly."**

Callaghan looked around for the source of the voice again, greeted by… nothing. He thought he could see the barest hint of a small speaker on one of the walls, but it disappeared almost immediately.

"Thank you for your insights."

 **"No problem. Just thought that I would make it clear that I don't like you."**

"I've got that down, thanks."

 **"Are you going to go through the door or not?"**

Callaghan sighed, glaring at the ceiling(as it was the only thing he'd be able to take frustration out on), then stepped through. By now, it had begun to get on his nerves, being more sarcastic than a recorded voice should have been…

Unless it wasn't recorded?

 **"Now, there's another room up there, you're going to have to go through here into there. So just waddle on into the lift and we'll get started with the testing."  
**

* * *

 **[ _Sorry for the slow update, but I had so much else to get done. DX So, please review and let me know what you think!_**

 ** _Gosh, this is going so slowly. DX_**

 ** _Anyways, Oblivious Out! *throws self out of frame*]_**


	3. Chapter 2: CATRINA

_**[Hello, my readers! It's been a long time(ha, haha, I made a pun) since the last update, mainly due to my focusing on my other story: Put On Your War Paint. I apologize for that, but due to a recent surgery which means no walking for a month, I have a lot of time to write. As such, I intend to update a little more often. I had a lot of fun coming up with this AU and planned it out in my head. So, there is little to no chance of me completely abandoning it.**_

 _ **I am going to attempt writing this while taking care of my other story, but I have a feeling that, due to the fact that it has a larger following, I will pay more attention to it.**_

 _ **As such, it will probably end end first as well. TL;DR, Updates here will be few and far between, and not on any sort of schedule. But as soon as my other story is done, this will be my priority.**_

 _ **Please enjoy the story!**_

* * *

" **That right there is a box. I'm not entirely certain if you know what a box is, considering your annoyingly below-par intelligence quotient. Allow me to describe it for you."**

"I know what a box is," Callaghan snapped, doing his best not to lose his temper with the increasingly irritating voice. "You don't have to explain."

" **Are you sure? Because I'd be more than happy to shove some information into that vastly empty monkey brain of yours."**

When Callaghan didn't reply, the voice responded with a very dramatic, mechanical sigh.

 **"Very well. Please place the Weighted Storage Cube on the Fifteen Hundred Megawatt Scintilla Innovations Heavy Duty Super-Colliding Super Button."**

Frowning in the voice's general direction-which was everywhere-Robert moved to pick up the large cube and attempted to drag it through the glowing orange portal on the wall, reminding himself all the while that it was just a computer.

" **You're going to have to pick it up if you want to get it through there, Robert,"** the voice crooned, in what almost could have passed for sympathy.

"Maybe if you make these things a little lighter," he replied, grunting as he pulled it off the ground. Years in the military lent a hand in bringing the cube- _How much did this thing weigh?!-_ over the edge of the portal.

" **Oh, but Robert, you know I wouldn't be able to do that. That would be bad science."**

"It really wouldn't. You could just-" As he continued to insist, the cube hit the large red button on the floor, opening the door to an elevator.

" **Congratulations. You've somehow managed to put your primitive ape-brain to something useful for once. I mean, not that peeling a banana with your feet isn't** _ **useful**_ **, at least to a monkey, but-"**

"You know what would be impressive? If you shut up."

There were a few moments of silence as the older man got into the elevator, remembering a warning involving blood leaking out of one's ears, then the voice reappeared.

" **If you insist, Professor."**

And suddenly Callaghan froze midstep as an intense wave of deja vu washed over him. The voice suddenly seemed overwhelmingly familiar, the lilt at the end of his sentence bringing him to a dim lab with several scientists crowded around a computer.

* * *

" _Your algorithm is off, Dr. Tanaka."_

" _My algorithm is just fine, Professor," a young woman with shoulder length black hair laughed quietly, punching him gently in the shoulder. "I think that maybe you need glasses."_

" _I have glasses," Callaghan insisted, wincing inwardly at the reminder that he isn't as young as he used to be. "I'm just not wearing them."_

" _And why not?" This came from a man of roughly the same height as the first woman, with red-blond hair that was combed neatly and gelled._

" _Mainly because they make me look like an old man," Robert admitted with a sheepish smile._

" _You say that like you aren't," the man teased, pulling at his own tie and straightening it._

" _Watch it, Mr. Lee. You don't wear a young man's clothes either, as we can tell by your smart suit."_

" _I know," he said with a grin that didn't reach his eyes. "I'm pushing the big Three-Zero."_

" _Speaking of which…" A much younger man with long black hair walked to the man's side, nudging him sharply with his elbow. "What's with the getup, Fred? You look like James Bond."_

" _Hey, little dude. James Bond is cool."_

" _Whatever," another voice laughed. The youngest member of the group was joined by a taller scientist, his eyes a light shade of brown that seemed almost orange. "You can come to work in your pajamas, just so long as you get the job done."_

" _I'm going to hold you to that," Fred laughed, the corners of his eyes finally crinkling with amusement. "Anything to not look old."_

" _I wish I looked the age I did when I first thought I looked old," Callaghan remarked with a sigh. "It's not fair."_

" _Life rarely is," a tall blonde replied promptly, a teasing grin lighting up her features._

 _A large scientist with a green shirt and gloves shoved her gently with his shoulder. "Says the woman who still looks twenty."_

" _It's not my fault everyone else looks old, Wasabi," she shot back._

" _Are you sure? I'm still not convinced that you didn't slip some weird chemical combination into our coffee to make us look five years older than we are."_

" _Except for Hiro's," Dr. Tanaka interjected, grinning slyly at the black-haired scientist with the gap in his teeth. "He still looks 17."_

" _You say that like it's a bad thing," Hiro said with a grin and a raised eyebrow._

" _It's not," Wasabi grumbled, shooting the younger man a glare. "It's a very good thing that makes me question if you're actually human."_

 _Suddenly several eyes were locked on the larger scientist, and his eyes grew wide. "I- I didn't-"_

" _Why did you feel the need to bring that up?"_

" _I- I just-"_

" _Human isn't defined by chemical makeup-_ _"_

" _You don't need to defend me, professor, he didn't mean any harm_ _."_

 _"Regardless."_

 _"And I'm not human, it's okay-"_

 _Callaghan's eyes locked onto those that belonged to the man who had spoken, determined and insistent. "Don't say that."_

 _The man stared back, then let out a soft sigh of resignation._

" _If you insist, Professor."_

* * *

"Who are you?"

" **I am your supervisor."**

Callaghan frowned, shaking his head as if to clear it. "No, not like that, what's your name?"

" **I am an Artificial Intelligence. I don't need a name, genius."**

"You have to have one though," he insisted, glaring at the nearest speaker in his line of sight. "You're not like any sort of AI I've ever seen. You have a personality, free will. Even basic Intelligences have names. Of a sort. What's yours?"

There was a long stretch of silence, and for the longest time, Robert worried that the voice had vanished. He considered the notion of never hearing the voice again, then it spoke with a certain reluctance and irritation.

" **I am the Catastrophe Analysis, Transferral, and Reanimation In Number Arrangement system."**

Callaghan was silent as he put together the acronym.

Then it hit him, and he started cracking up.

"So your name…"

" **Shut up."**

"Your name is Catrina?"

" **Shut up right now."**

"Or Catarina, I suppose…"

" **I'm warning you."**

Callaghan could almost picture the wave of humiliation and indignance washing over the very obviously deep male voice. "Who decided to give you your voice? Someone with a sense of humor, I'm guessing."

" **I have the ability to dump you in a pool of acid."**

"Okay," Robert wheezed, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. "I can deal with Catrina."

There was something that sounded vaguely like a growl, then: " **If you call me Catrina, I can and will murder you."**

Robert put his hands up in what was meant to be a placating gesture, then shook his head, laughing. "Okay. What's the male version of Catrina?"

The voice didn't respond, which he took to mean that the voice didn't know, then it replied. " **The closest thing I can think of is Cato."**

"Okay. Cato it is, then. Nice to meet you… Catrina," Robert half sputtered out before laughing again.

" **It's a pleasure,"** the voice replied with a tone that implied that it was quite possibly the farthest thing from a pleasure that it could think of.

* * *

 _ **[I really love this chapter in particular. Mainly because I know what the voice is, and the name Catrina doesn't fit him very well. xD**_

 _ **I hope you enjoyed, please leave me a review to let me know how I did, and whether you would like to see more of this!**_

 _ **Oblivious Out~! *scoots out of the frame*]**_


	4. Chapter 3: The Testing Initiative

_**[Hello, everyone! I am returning with another chapter sooner than I thought, because I intend to make chapters shorter, and also I love this AU. So, I present you with the third chapter!]**_

* * *

" **This test is impossible. Make no attempt to solve it."**

Callaghan looked up, frowning, then gestured to the test chamber. "Really, it's far from impossible. I can see a solution from where I am. I think your programming's faulty."

" **The only thing faulty from where I'm sitting is this test chamber. It has no solution. I apologize for this unsolvable test chamber."**

"It's really not. Here, if I just-" Callaghan found that the Dual Portal Device had a setting which could pick up enormously heavy objects-a handy feature for when he needed to pick up the boxes. He switched that setting on, lifting a large box and dropping it through a portal placed on the floor, smirking as it flew to the opposite side of the room. He then jumped in himself, and braced himself for the landing. "By the way, Cato, what are these boot things?"

" **Those are long-fall boots, designed to minimize the impact and prevent any damage to your person. Long story short, you can jump off of anything and not get hurt-so long as you land on your feet."**

"Handy."

" **They're not for your hands, idiot."**

It took Robert a few seconds as he placed the cube on a red button, then started cracking up. "Oh. I see."

" **Took you long enough. Congratulations. You have persevered in the face of extreme pessimism. Please waddle over to the next chamber."**

Robert felt irritation wash over him, then shook his head and took several steps forward and froze as he walked through a door. He looked down past the platform he was on, and tentatively reached down to brush his fingertips against the green-gray liquid, then gasped as he brought them back up to find the topmost layer of skin on his calloused fingertips was burned off.

" **We at Scintilla Innovations promise to always provide a safe testing environment. In dangerous testing environments, we promise to always provide useful advice. For example."**

Robert waited in silence for several seconds as Cato paused for effect.

" **The floor here will kill you. You would do well to avoid it."**

"Thanks," the man replied with something resembling irritation. "Anything else?"

" **Only that I wish to make it clear that I don't like you."**

"I've got that, yeah."

" **Just checking,"** Cato replied cheerily. " **Have fun getting killed."**

* * *

" _Why is he doing this?!"_

" _I don't know!" Dr Tanaka was frantically typing onto a keyboard and avoiding the small black pieces of metal grazing her hair. "All our calculations were correct, his central core wasn't damaged-it should have been perfect."_

" _Maybe the issue isn't hardware?"_

 _Leiko-yes, Callaghan remembered now, that was her name, although her friends called her GoGo-turned to stare, bewildered, at her former professor. "You mean, you think he knows exactly what he's doing?"_

" _It's a possibility."_

 _Her eyes hardened, and she spun around to tap a few more furious words into the computer. "No, it isn't. He's one of my best friends. I refuse to believe he's doing this on purpose."_

" _ **Come out, come out…!"**_

 _The two scientists froze up in fear, ducking underneath the desk. Their breath came quickly, and they shied away from the wave of black metal that slowly crept past their white sanctuary. "Do you think he knows where we are?"_

" _I have no doubt," Callaghan whispered resignedly. "He saw us before the test."_

* * *

" **Robert? Hello? Get a move on."**

"What?" Callaghan stood up suddenly, blinking off his haze, and shook his head. "I… I'm sorry, I just…"

" **Your vitals are increased significantly. This could be a panic attack, which is most likely, due to the acid on the floor."**

Suddenly, he was taken back to underneath the desk, watching the metal move past him, and frowned. This was that same voice, he was sure of it.

 _Come out, come out…!_

He shuddered briefly, then shook his head. "You're probably right."

" **Well, you'd better get it out of the way, then."**

"What if I fall in?"

" **Then it looks like I need to clean another skeleton out of the acid pool,"** Cato replied, bored.

"Another?!" Robert's eyes grew wide. "What do you mean, another?!"

" **Are you going to do the test or not?"**

He sat in silence for several seconds, considering the possibility of simply ignoring Cato, then rolled his eyes and shot an electric blue portal at the white space on the walls. "I guess so."

" **That's good. Doing tests is good."**

"Why are you doing this, anyways?"

For the longest time, Cato didn't respond, and Callaghan reveled in the all-too-brief silence.

" **It's in my programming."**

"You sound too human to be entirely computerized," Robert said before he could stop himself.

The entire test chamber grew quiet-eerily quiet. Not just because Cato wasn't speaking, but because suddenly the mechanical humming behind the walls that he had begun to tune out had been silenced. The radio softly serenading him from the speakers when his companion wasn't speaking had gone. The acid had been bubbling a little bit before, but now it was still.

Callaghan felt a deep pit of anxiety in his stomach, pushing at his chest until he felt he would burst. Distracting himself, he placed the last portal and stepped through, walking to the door. Being accustomed to their opening just before he walked through, he wasn't prepared for the impact when he bumped into it.

"Hey, what gives?"

" **I would advise you not to put that question to me again."**

"Which one?"

" **The... one about my sounding too human. I am... not human."** Cato sounded almost… offended. Or hurt. Robert couldn't tell, due to the slight distortion from the speakers, but something was definitely wrong.

"Okay. I won't. Can you open the doors now?"

There was another moment of silence, then Callaghan relaxed as the humming in the walls returned, ' _Mr. Blue Sky'_ softly playing from the speakers. A few seconds later, the two doors moved open, as if he had just stepped up to them.

The next room was silent as well, not by the walls or the radio, but Cato wasn't speaking, as if he had decided to ignore his test subject.

Robert had just about finished the test when the cold feeling from before tugged at his consciousness, and he found himself in a dark lab.

* * *

" _ **Professor Callaghan~!"**_

" _Professor! Help me!"_

 _He knew he would regret not turning around to his dying day, but when Robert heard his companion scream not even a second later, he knew it wouldn't have made a difference. The small metal bits brought back painful memories of a dark night under the stars, and piercing screams that he would never be able to forgive himself for._

 _But that was another story entirely. Right now, the only thing on his mind was getting away from the wave of microbots creeping up the walls as he ran._

 _The end of the hallway was coming up fast, and Callaghan knew he had to make a decision. He ran left then froze, the microbots hitting him hard in the back and bowling him over._

" _ **Found you! Took you long enough to show."**_

" _Why are you doing this?" Robert's voice was creaky, breathy as he gasped for oxygen._

" _ **Oh, professor, you don't actually think I forgot, did you? About what you did?"**_ _Black hair fell into the man's eyes as he knelt down._ " _ **I remember every detail, because that's how I was programmed."**_

 _Robert painfully pushed himself up, looking into his former student's eyes. "I was wrong about you, then. You're not human," he spat, smirking as saliva came into contact with skin. "You never were."_

 _He recoiled as if struck, taking a step back, then shook his head, laughing bitterly._ " _ **No, I'm not. I lost all humanity the night of the fire. Thanks for that, by the way,"**_ _he half-growled._

" _I always regretted what I did. If you know me at all, you know that."_

" _ **It doesn't make a difference,"**_ _his captor spat._ " _ **Because of you, Tadashi is dead. And soon enough, you're going to join him."**_

" _Go on then!" Callaghan's voice was raw from the events of the day, but his expression was that of a volcano, bright with fury. "Prove me right! Prove you're nothing more than a machine!"_

 _There was a moment of silence, in which the man in front of him blinked once, then twice, then his eye began to twitch uncontrollably._

" _What-"_

" _ **Sy**_ **y** _ **y**_ _st_ _ **em**_ **m** a _lfun-n_ _ **ction. Power o-overload. Testing initiative active. Please proceed to the Main Intelligence Chamber."**_

" _What's going on?"_

 _The twitching refused to stop, growing even more intense._ " _ **Nothing! I'm fine! 2 plus 2 is… 10. In base four! I'm fine!"**_

" _The power grid is too much for you outside the mainframe," Callaghan realized, an idea dawning on him. "That's why you're insane."_

" _ **I-**_ **I** ' _ **m far from insane, P-**_ _rofe_ _ **ssor. I p**_ **la** nn _ed_ _ **this. I volunt**_ _eered to be_ **put in, rememb** _ **er?"**_

 _Robert felt a gasp hitch in his throat. "You meant to get revenge."_

" _ **Testing initiative active."**_

" _What's a testing initiative? Is that-" The words Leiko had typed into the computer suddenly made sense. "She made a testing initiative. To distract you. To keep you occupied."_

" _ **SHUT UP!"**_

* * *

" **Robert?"**

Callaghan took a deep breath, steadying himself. The flashbacks were getting worse, more intense, and he wasn't sure how to make them easier on him. But one thing was for certain-he had had some part in making Cato.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

" **Oh, I know. You just haven't completed your test."**

Robert briefly looked up before solving the puzzle, and moving into the next room. "When do I get a break?"

" **When you finish the testing track."**

"I thought-"

" **You thought wrong."**

"But-"

" **Back to testing."**

* * *

 _ **[I'm curious as to what you guys think! And of course, I'm so, so happy that you have taken the time to read this! Please review and let me know how I did-seriously, the more reviews I get, the sooner I update. It's a fact of life.**_

 _ **Anyhow, thanks again! I'd love to see your theories as to who Cato is...**_

 _ **Oblivious Out~!]**_


End file.
